You like’a da juice?

Students often ask me what juicer I recommend. Now mama taught me it’s rude to answer a question with a question but that’s usually the case. “Do you want to be able juice wheat grass and make ice cream and sorbet?” is the question I respond with. There are 2 common types of juicer and one uncommon: Centrifuge, which spins and Masticating, which crushes and chews.

Centrifuge Juicer

Centrifuge juicers work great with root veggies and hard fruits. The softer the fruit you put in the juicer the less efficient it juices. Leafy greens don’t juice well in centrifuge juicers. The Jack LaLane juicers are this spinning type. The pulp is separated from the juice and collected separately. This can be a messy process.

These quotes are from the Omega Juicer website:

A centrifuge holds the pulp inside the basket in order to continue to spin the pulp and extract juice. Centrifugal juicers are highly efficient and the easiest to clean. Perfect for small families and individuals.

Masticating Style – A Masticating Juicer is a low-speed unit that can juice the same items as Centrifugal and Pulp Ejection while also having the ability to juice Wheatgrass and Leafy Greens. Our masticating units also have non-juicing functions. Pasta Extrusion, mincing, grinding and nutter butters.

Masticating Juicer

Some popular brands of masticating juicers are Green Star, Champion and Omega. Green Star is considered the top of the line and uses twin gears. While they make great juice and are really efficient, the Green Star is bulky and is more complicated to clean and assemble than the Champion and Omega. I’ve used all 3 juicers mentioned extensively and each has its benefits and drawbacks. My personal choice is the Omega for ease of use, compactness and cost.

Got Ice Cream/Sorbet?

The one perk that you get with the masticating juicer is the ability to turn frozen fruit into instant sorbet. The only condition you need to consider is that the frozen fruit is cut into pieces that will fit into the juicing chute. Frozen mango, papaya, banana and pineapple are tops on my list for sorbet making. I also mentioned ice cream. Check out this little trick.

The uncommon type of juicer is the Norwalk juicer, created and named for Norman Walker. This juicer is unique in that it uses a grinder to break up the fruits or veggies and a separate hydraulic press to extract the juice… fun stuff. This method is apparently the best method for reducing oxidation and decay of the juice. Unfortunately Norwalk Juicers cost over $2000. There are some DIY methods of creating your own Norwalk type setup if you’re motivated to do so.

@Anthony – You are correct that photo is of the Oscar Vital Max which I think is also known as the Omega in US. I also have the Oscar VitalMax and just love it.

I actually wanted to comment on the Old Greenstar Juicers, and they are old. The person who invented the Greenstar Juicer (Mr Kim) has moved away from the Greenstar Company and worked with the Hippocrates Institute to create a smaller and less problematic version. Soo…the latest and greatest is the Hippocrates Twin Gear Juicer by Greenpower.

Personally, unless your a super fitness and raw food freak, I find the Oscar a little easier to use and clean than the Hippocrates and it still delivers a great juice, even from wheatgrass (which I hate but my girlfriend loves!!).